Written By: Kirk Peterson
Light of The World
Many of you know that I am a man of faith. I have found the confident hope of the LORD
and of the Messiah Jesus Christ.
Whatever you believe, this world and the life we live can be hard. Death comes to us all and I see no greater
hope than the eternal truth found in God’s Holy Word. Science, the prevailing truth of our age,
promises finality and nothingness. In
contrast, God shows us in the bible His promise of hope and everlasting
life...
Just last night as I was giving my two young
children a bath, (which are some of the greatest blessings the LORD has ever
given me) my oldest boy was singing: "This little light of mine, I'm going
to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine...". Seeing my son all happy there in the bathtub
filled with joy and peace, reminded me of the light of hope that comes with
Christ.
44 Jesus shouted to the crowd…46 I have come as a
light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will
no longer remain in the dark. (John 12:44 & 46, NLT)
1In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word
was with God, and the Word was God. 2He existed in the beginning with God. 3God
created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.
4The Word gave life to everything that was created, and nothing that was
created was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything and his
life brought light to everyone. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness can never extinguish it. (John 1:1-5, NLT)
The Darkness In All of Us
I have always been an optimist. Before finding my faith in Jesus, I blindly
believed that the human heart was ALL good.
What I failed to see was the darkness that resides in all of us, evil
that lives in every human heart and always leads us astray. As hard as it was for me to see initially,
Man's fall into sin through disobedience to our heavenly Father by eating the
forbidden fruit, is all part of the LORD's plan. In all my study of scripture, I have not
heard God's plan stated any clearer and easier than in 1 Corinthians 15.
...Christ was
raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be
raised when he comes back. 24After that the end will come, when he will turn
the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority
and power. 25For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his
feet. 26And the last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27For the Scriptures say,
“God has put all things under his authority.” (Of course, when it says “all things
are under his authority,” that does not include God himself, who gave Christ
his authority.) 28Then, when all things are under his authority, the Son will
put himself under God’s authority, so that God, who gave his Son authority over
all things, will be utterly supreme over everything everywhere. (1 Corinthians
15:23-28, NLT)
So, if this world we live in has such darkness in
it, what hope do we have?
Salvation
The Bible teaches us that by faith in Jesus Christ,
trusting in the LORD and believing that the son of God came down to the world
in flesh as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind, Christ died and
was resurrected on the third day; that He paid the ultimate price for the debt
that was owed to God for our sins.
God is perfectly good and demands the same from all
mankind. Since we are imperfect people,
living with evil in our hearts, only through the ultimate sacrifice of his
perfect son Jesus the Lamb of God, are we called children of God and promised
eternal life by grace through our faith.
9The one who is the true light, who gives light to
everyone, was coming into the world. 10He came into the very world he created,
but the world didn’t recognize him. 11He came to his own people, and even they
rejected him. 12But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right
to become children of God. 13They are reborn—not with a physical birth
resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. 14So the
Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and
faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and
only Son. (John: 9-14, NLT)
Beacon of Hope in a World of Darkness
The Holy Spirit has shown me the darkness in our
world recently...
The Sandy Hook shootings shows just how dark this
world can be with the killing of all those innocent children. The nation was tragically shocked and
saddened by the event and even prompted the US president to ask Congress and
our nation to debate gun control and the cost to our freedom for the hope of
saving innocent lives.
Also, recently I was watching my DVR recording of
the NFL's AFC Championship game between The Baltimore Ravens and The New
England Patriots. The Holy Spirit had me
take notice to the violent nature of the game when the Patriots running back
Stevan Ridley was hit so hard that he had a seizure right there on the
field. The men on the field were
fighting for the football that was turned over as he fell to the ground
unconscious, mere feet from his body as the training staff were trying to care
for his injuries. Was the Holy Spirit
asking me to give up football, the sport I love to watch? Maybe it was calling me to try and make a
difference in the league as the executives try to crack down on
helmet-to-helmet injuries for the cause of trying to make the game more safe?
These are only two small events in the history of
men that shows our violent and dark world.
However, their is a shining light, a beacon of hope that guides us to the
right path in the darkness that surrounds us all, and that light is JESUS
CHRIST.
18I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light
so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he
called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. (Ephesians
1:18 NLT)
8“But let us who live in the light be clearheaded,
protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the
confidence of our salvation.” (1 Thessalonians 5:8, NLT)
13I pray that
God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because
you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power
of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13, NLT)
See YouTube Video 'This Little Light of Mine'
here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCN893hzueQ
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